Search Results for: crafts

Valentine’s Day GIVEAWAY!

February 14, 2012 by Jules 2 Comments

I just recently learned about 2 fun new sites!The Crafting Chicks

AND

I 1st came across them when doing my Feb post,"Ghetto Frames: DIY Organic Bloom Frames" for Homemaker's Challenge. When I came across these lovely ladies and their enticing craftiness I was Not only was I envious of their ability to make adorable crafts but also products they worked with. They recently has a giveaway for a Poppy Seed Project product that had me flipping my lid. Just the pictures of the products they offered had me in disbelief. I didn't know anyone sold Exactly what I'd always been shopping at the Goodwills and yard sales for. I had to contact them.

I'm honored today to be offering a $25.oo gift card to the Poppy Seed Project!

MY Poppy Seed Project!
This will give you just a glimpse into one of the options you can use your gift card for ;o) It is a stacked frame using 2 different sized square bracketed frames. I show you the process and final product!!!!

It looks similar to this Poppy Seed Projects example:

Enter DAILY for more chances to win:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Note to all the wonderful ladies I've been working with:

It's been a pleasure working with all these ladies! Thanks for giving me the chance to share this cuteness with my readers!

Filed Under: Contests, Homemaker, Projects, The Ones about Jules Life {Randomness} Tagged With: DIY picture frames, giveaway, home decor, Poppy Seed Project, the organic bloom frames

Advent {Day 8}: UpCycle Gift Wrap

December 8, 2011 by Jules 1 Comment

Any WIC mamma's out there? Being a WIC mamma myself, I know we have to "buy" those tiny 12.5oz Imfamil Premium formula cans. I end up with piles of these adorable sized cans (7 a month to be exact). Anyone else out there enjoy finding fun new up-cycle crafts for them? I DO!

Last year these became our neighbor, mail carrier, and sanitation department gifts! This year they may even be teacher gifts for our Sunday school and Cubbie teachers as well as nursery workers.

I'd love to share with you several gifts that fit perfectly into these miniscule containers at minimal cost!

Decorating Cans

Always wash cans after emptying/using all the formula
Make sure to wash and save the scoop just in case
Let dry overnight
Choose paper according to your desired theme (scrap wrapping paper, construction paper, etc)
Measure, cut, tape
Add embellishments to the lid
(bows of any kind, your own homemade tag, or my printables are available in the post series: "Gift Ideas")

Other items you may be able to stock up on fast are baby food jars. If you have babies then they are going through possibly 3 or more jars of food a day(if you're not doing homemade, which we've done before). Those are another great idea for re-purposing!

Decorating Baby Food Jars

Always wash jar after emptying
Make sure to wash and save the lid as well
Let dry overnight
Add embellishments to the side of the jar. This helps cover the left over sticky from the former label and takes away from the fact that its baby food jar. Wrap it all the way around the jar or just make a small 1'' x 1.5'' label. I like using Mod Pog to glue the paper on but tap will work as well.
(you can make a simple homemade tag, or my printables are available in the post series: "Gift Ideas")
Fill the jar with gift before sealing lid off with embellishments.
Click HERE for ideas to fill your jars.
Choose paper according to your desired theme that will cover the lid.
(tissue paper seems to work the best but scrap wrapping paper, construction paper, etc will work as well)
Measure, cut, and strap the paper over the lid with ribbon
(curling ribbon works great and is cheap but any handy ribbon you have will work)

Hope this helps those out there like my family that LOVE giving gifts, fun wrapping, and homemade items!

Anyone else out there have some great up-cycled ideas you would like to share?

Filed Under: Gifts Ideas, The Ones about Post Series Tagged With: baby food jar, decorating, formula cans, gift ideas, Gift wrapping, up cycling, WIC

Advent {Day 5}: HIPPY Christmas Party

December 5, 2011 by Jules 2 Comments

I don't do solo very well....

Tonight was Maggie's HIPPY Christmas party. I told myself when we started doing this program that one of the reasons we were doing it was for her to have another social outlet. Since we are going to homeschool I feel like I need to make this a priority now.

But...

Matt had an Athletic Banquet tonight. Same time.

Today was terribly rainy, windy, yucky! We'd had our typically terrible Wal-Mart trip, short naps, and attempted to do a little of our HIPPY work while incorporating gift making. Ugg

Needless to say, when it came time to pack the car and head out the door for the party I was less than thrilled about the outing. I hadn't even told Mags about it as to not have to hear questioning from the riddler all day. I so wanted to skip. Sitting there trying to decided if it was 'worth' it I decided not only for my childs social needs but for mine as well, we'd headed out on this evening venture.

When pulling out of the driveway at 4:45 I question my memory..."5 or 5:30?" I pulled in and there on the elementary school sign said 5.
Darn.
I was gonna go grab a hot chocolate.

We loaded the double stroller with a baby and a toddler, diaper bag, cups, camera, gift for our "HIPPY lady" and in we went. {Praising God the rain storm had stopped}

We were early.

It didn't really start until 5:30. I know, some of you are thinking, "Good for you!" and other know exactly the feeling I'm about to tell all you early birds about, "Crap." When a mom of 3 gets somewhere 30 minutes early with minimal support at a new environment, not toddler/baby friendly, and has to wait...........................................................yeah. Things could melt down fast.

I let Mags play with her sweet friend Natally and her big sis who arrived early as well. But the toddler and baby remained in the stroller as long as possible. I fed Jamin his baby food {slowly}, pulled him out of the carseat and propped him up in the stroller seat to eat some cereal. Delaying the "CUP!!!" and "MORE PeeeeeZ!" feasco I gave Izzie some cereal as well while she gazed at the table of snack-like dinner yummies just a few feet away.

And I'm out.

I'd delayed as long as possible. More kids were showing up so I needed Mags to sit with me at the cafeteria table, Izzie was no longer satisfied with the handful of Cheerios and received her cup, and Jamin needed his bottle {my last trick up my sleeve to keep him content in the stroller}. The time now, you ask? 5:25. Actually, if felt like that but I honestly don't know since I was counting babies over and over again like a loon. Mags used the elementary school potty for the 1st time. Izzie's diaper leaked, I changed her in the hallway, and her poor pants were wet the rest of the night. J made it, content with cereal thus far.

5:40- YES! I got kicked off. We got in line {all 4 of us} to grab some lunch meat, diced cheeses, and olives! Headed back to the table where we'd set up camp. Maggie and Izzie sat by me picking at their dinner and chugging their juice cups and J finally got his bottle, shaking milk all over himself, as usual, when he has about an ounce left. I chatted with a few friends and got to relax watching my girls making the normal meal mess all over the table knowing I didn't have to be the one to clean it up.

6ish we went to find Santa and get our picture taken. Surprisingly everyone was okay with that. I think watching all the other kids crawl up there, playing with their friends while waiting and the candy cane at the end were all pieces to the puzzle that is a calm Santa picture! J went straight to him. Izzie didn't want to sit on his lap {she wanted to feel his costume as if he were a doll} but that was probably better {remember wet pants?}. Since Mags saw Izzie didn't want to sit but she knew we all needed to be in the picture she easily let me put her on his knee. Izzie wouldn't stop checking out his suit long enough to turn around and cheese. Oh well.

After grabbing some crafts to take home and loading all of our belongings we made it back in the van by 7ish. Not to shabby. *side note: SCORE! We didn't ruin anyone's Santa belief even though several parents were talking to their children about Santa bringing them gifts and Mags is usually a walking spoiler alert ;o)

How are you Christmas Parties going? Do you have too many? Not enough? Please Share!!!

Filed Under: Holidays, Parenting

Purpose

This blog started as a way for me {Jules}, a mom of 3 {under 2.5 at the time} to spill my beans. I didn't have too much time to chat it up with friends on a consistent basis so this was a therapy. I loved taking TONS of pictures and sharing ridiculously long captions on Facebook until one day a friend jokingly suggested I'd be a good blogger. So the pictures and stories were {mostly} moved to a blog format where it was also a great opportunity to share the daily lives of the Rothacher's for family out of town to stay up-to-date.

I'm sure several readers are wondering about the title. It comes from the scripture in Matthew 28 that says

^"19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

{read in context here} When broken down in the original language means not just Go but "as you are going" make disciples. I want to make disciples as I am going. As I am living my ordinary days in the middle of Arkansas with my growing family, sharing how God is working and allowing us to be a part of His extraordinary adventure.

Jules Prayer for readers:
"That visiting this space will edify, teach, train.
That it will create action, send, inspire.
That it will alert.
That it will feed, awaken, grow.
That it will help, heal, restore, mend, breathe life.
No matter how God chooses to use this avenue in my life or yours, may it honor Him!"

Since that time God has done unexpected blessings through blogging. In September of 2011 Jules began as a contributor over at the Homemaker's Challenge.This gave me an even bigger love for homemaking and sharing silly things I's learned or attempted in my home.

Learning of all the possibilities there were for bloggers, I decided to take the plunge January 2012 to put myself out there by buying my own domain name and commit to consistently {LOL} blogging.

I have grown to love writing even more but life is more important to live than to write about so the committed writing hasn't been as consistent as I would have liked but is still here often sharing about the Rothacher's life even if that comes in a simple tutorial format of crafts or projects we've done recently.

God has also allowed me to start contributing to a Ministers' Wives blog, A Common Bond. The ministry of sharing the odd life of a pastor's wife is something I'd been in search of for years. Now God is not only allowing me to share the few things I've learned but also to be apart of a community of women who understand a rare lifestyle.